Overkill: Feared Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New OrleansNEW ORLEANS -- Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been "deputized" by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the au... (more)
|
|
Tape Released: American al Qaeda Member Warns of AttacksSep. 11, 2005 - In an apparent Sept. 11 communiqué broadcast on ABC News, an al Qaeda operative threatens new attacks against cities in the US and Australia.
"Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, God willing. At this time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion," the tape warns. "We are Muslims. We love peace, but peace on our terms, peace as laid down by Islam, not the so-called peace of occupiers and dictators."
... (more)
|
|
U.S. Envisions Using Nukes on TerroristsWASHINGTON Sep 11, 2005 — A Pentagon planning document being updated to reflect the doctrine of pre-emption declared by President Bush in 2002 envisions the use of nuclear weapons to deter terrorists from using weapons of mass destruction against the United States or its allies.
The "Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations," which was last updated 10 years ago, makes clear that "the decision to employ nuclear weapons at any level requires explicit orders from the president."... (more)
|
|
Bush's Approval Rating Plumets: NEWSWEEK poll suggests President Bush could become Katrina’s next casualtySept. 10, 2005 - Hurricane Katrina claimed her first political casualty Friday. Michael Brown, the head of FEMA, the federal disaster readiness and response agency, was sidelined from the largest disaster relief project in the nation’s history. Brown was recalled to Washington by his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. But a new NEWSWEEK Poll suggests the post-Katrina political storm may just be rising. And her ultimate casualty could be President George W. Bush.
... (more)
|
|
Pentagon opens 9/11 "crash site" to publicWASHINGTON - Quiet and respectful, scores of people on Saturday walked past the impact point where a hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, as the military allowed one-day tours for the general public.
"We are living that part of history," said Ailyn Alonso, 54, of Bethesda, Md. "We learn from the past."
She was among about 20 people who walked from a Pentagon parking lot to the southwest portion of the Defense Department headquarters where the ... (more)
|
|
Flashback: Red Cross Distributes Less Than 30 Percent of 9/11 DonationsNovember 6, 2001 Posted: 9:39 PM EST (0239 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Charities swung into action after the September 11 terrorist attacks, raising more than $1 billion. But questions are being raised about where and how and how much of that money is being distributed.
Bearing the brunt Tuesday during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel was outgoing Red Cross President Dr. Bernadine Healy.
The Red Cross has raised more... (more)
|
|
Sun Unleashes 5 Major Flares, Earth May Soon Get PoundedAn ongoing series of major solar flares, including one late Friday, could disrupt communications on Earth and generate colorful sky shows for people at high northern latitudes over the weekend.
Even more serious effects are possible next week.
The spate of activity from the Sun is being generated by a large sunspot named 798. Sunspots are cooler and darker regions of pent-up magnetic activity. When they unleash their energy, it's a bit like the top coming off a ... (more)
|
|
Cops trapped survivors in New OrleansWASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Police from surrounding jurisdictions shut down several access points to one of the only ways out of New Orleans last week, effectively trapping victims of Hurricane Katrina in the flooded and devastated city.
An eyewitness account from two San Francisco paramedics posted on an internet site for Emergency Medical Services specialists says, 'Thousands of New Orleaners were prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the city on foot.'
... (more)
|
|
U.S. won't ban media from New Orleans searches: CNN filed suit for right to cover search for bodies of Katrina victimsHOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Rather than fight a lawsuit by CNN, the federal government abandoned its effort Saturday to prevent the media from reporting on the recovery of the dead in New Orleans.
Joint Task Force Katrina "has no plans to bar, impede or prevent news media from their news gathering and reporting activities in connection with the deceased Hurricane Katrina victim recovery efforts," said Col. Christian E. deGraff, representing the task force.
U.S. District... (more)
|
|
Honor students sent home after dying hairWAUKOMIS -- Three honor students who say they have never been disciplined before were sent home from school Thursday for dying their hair.
The girls -- all freshmen and all straight-A students -- said they were not warned before being told they would not be allowed back in class until they changed their hair color. The absence is considered unexcused, according to a discipline report given to the students, which means they will not be allowed to make up any tests or assignments th... (more)
|
|
Court Vacates an FBI Gag OrderFor the second time since the USA Patriot Act broadened the FBI's power to demand private records in secret, a federal judge ruled yesterday that it is unconstitutional for the government to impose an automatic and permanent ban on public disclosure of any case in which it uses that power.
U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall found that the statutory gag order, invoked every time the FBI uses a "national security letter" to demand information in terrorism or espionage cases, violated... (more)
|
|
Army Recruiters Set Their Sights On Hurricane VictimsThis almost missed item in the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire today is simply outrageous. Bush's failure in Iraq has stretched the military so thin that recruiters are on the verge of taking advantage of the hurricane to basically draft the victims.
In case you don't subscribe, here's what the Journal wrote today:
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Ten U.S. Army recruiters are offering volunteer help for Katrina vicitms at Houston's Astrodome. But the recruiters, str... (more)
|
|
Watchmen stand vigil in city’s wealthiest homes: Residents stay behind to protect mansions, luxury cars, other possessionsNEW ORLEANS - Just blocks from a smoldering fire and walking distance from bodies floating in the floodwaters, John Crouch and Andy Guzman debated what to make for dinner.
As the sun set, the men had hurriedly chained up the cast-iron fence and locked themselves into the 10,000-square-foot, gray-green Greek Revival mansion for the night. Three dogs, three handguns and five shotguns kept them company.
Earlier in the week, the men feasted on Cornish hens and jumbo shr... (more)
|
|
Stun gun leaves man critical: Sister, witness criticize Colonial Beach police for using Taser on man with brain condition. A 43-year-old man was in critical condition in a Richmond hospital last night with a fractured skull after Colonial Beach police shot him with a Taser stun gun.
Police did not identify the man, citing his "degenerative brain disease." But they said in the news release that he was suicidal and threatening officers.
The man's sister, who did not wish to be identified, said her brother "wasn't doing anything to threaten the police" when he was shot on Irving Avenue ar... (more)
|
|
Gonzales allies trumpet conservative viewsWASHINGTON - Supporters of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales have launched a campaign to rebut criticism that he is not reliably conservative enough to serve on the Supreme Court, a move likely to intensify a rift within Republican circles over one of President Bush's closest confidants.
The group of former Gonzales aides and other Republicans still in the Bush administration -- most of whom are close to top White House officials -- are coordinating with one another, sharpening... (more)
|
|
Evacuees in Astrodome: The 17th street levee was bombed, food not being provided, we are trapped like prisoners, 20 rapes a night in stadiumReport from the Houston Astrodome...
10:23: Joel just got removed. Almost arrested. Fox News is down on the floor. I’m in dome, hiding in seats. They’re allowing some media on the floor, not others.
10:31 Just met members of the Polish press, they are being stopped from entering floor. Says this is like the former USSR.
10:57 Raw transcript of comments by NOLA evacuee : "The 17th street levee was bombed by the Army Corps of Engineers to sa... (more)
|
|
Tom DeLay "Now Tell Me The Truth Boys, Is This Kind Of Fun?''This morning, U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's visit to the Reliant Park this offered him a glimpse of what it's like to be living in shelter.
While on the tour of a shelter with top administration officials from Washington, including U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, DeLay stopped to chat with three young boys resting on cots.
The congressman likened their stay to being at camp and asked, ``Now tell me the truth ... (more)
|
|
July 7 was a shock but no surprise, says head of MI5MI5 was "shocked but not surprised" by the July terrorist attacks in London, the head of the security service said in her first public comment since the atrocity that killed 56 people, including four suicide bombers.
Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the director-general, confirmed that a parliamentary committee was to carry out a review of whether MI5 could have done more to prevent the attacks or had missed any intelligence about their planning.
But she said: "No one ... (more)
|
|
Mexico, Holland send troops to BiloxiSep. 9 - The Marines have landed in Biloxi -- the Mexican Marines.
And Dutch Marines as well.
For the first time since the 19th Century, Mexican troops landed Friday on U.S. soil, sent from the Mexican Navy ship ARM Papaloapan anchored near the USS Bataan. The Mexican ship's name means, "River of Butterflies."
Marines from Mexico, Holland and the U.S. are part of an international Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort building up on ships about 20 miles off... (more)
|
|
Bush links September 11 to 'challenge' posed by KatrinaPresident George Bush has linked the 9/11 attacks to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, saying the US was able to "overcome any challenge". Days before the fourth anniversary of the terror attacks on New York and Washington, Mr Bush declared: "America is a strong and resilient nation." At the swearing-in-ceremony for Karen Hughes, his new senior official for "public diplomacy", Mr Bush said 100 countries had offered assistance to help hurricane victims. He said there had been a "a similar outpo... (more)
|
|
Envoy walks out over 'British terrorism' claimThe British high commissioner to Malaysia walked out of a speech yesterday when the country's former prime minister condemned Britain and America as "terrorist nations".
Mahathir Mohamad said that British and American pilots in Iraq were "murderers". He claimed that the two countries were responsible for the deaths of "500,000 infants" through sanctions imposed against Saddam Hussein and accused Downing Street of lying over the 45-minute weapons of mass destruction claim.
<... (more)
|
|
Flight 93 victims honored with Muslim Crescent?: Pastor threatens lawsuit, sees design as bow to terrorists A Pennsylvania pastor is fighting the newly approved design of the Flight 93 National Memorial, contending its crescent pattern is a symbol of Islam.
Rev. Ron McRae, head of the Bible Anabaptist Church near Jerome, Pa., about 55 miles from Pittsburgh, said a private group he formed might go to court to block the "Crescent of Embrace" memorial designed by Paul Murdoch Associates of Los Angeles.
"This is a memorial to the terrorists who killed those people, not a mem... (more)
|
|
Fighting terrorism the high-tech way: While officials laud the latest security tools, some say it’s not enoughMalene Meisner stiffened as quick puffs of air shot out from the machine and pelted her body. Within seconds, the high-tech new machine indicated there were no traces of explosives, so the airport screener waved Meisner through Terminal 1 at Kennedy Airport.
Meisner of Denmark had just stepped through the latest in airport security screening.
"I think it's great if it can detect explosives. The more security the better," said Meisner, 34, who was leaving New York Wednesday ... (more)
|
|
Filling Up Abroad Becomes a Financial DrainLONDON — One hundred fifty dollars to fill 'er up.
That's what it cost Adam Mleasai, a 28-year-old builder, to fill his battered green Audi beneath the lighted canopy of a BP station on North London's Finchley Road.
"It's so frustrating," he said, estimating that he is paying 80 pounds a week, about $150, to fill his gas tank. As British fuel prices edge toward 1 pound per liter, nearly $7 a gallon, that buys only about 83 liters, or 22 gallons.
... (more)
|
|
Scientists create human embryo without a fatherDUBLIN - Human embryos have been created in Britain without using sperm for the first time.
The "virgin conception" embryos, which mark a new way to grow a woman's cells and tissues for a vast range of treatments, were revealed by an Edinburgh team.
The development is the second time in as many days that U.K. scientists have pushed back the boundaries of reproductive science.
On Thursday, approval was given to experiments to create embryos from three ... (more)
|
|
| 
